


Water is Stronger than Fire

by FrosLure



Series: Soymilk Week 2016 [3]
Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Burning, Fire, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-11
Updated: 2016-08-11
Packaged: 2018-08-08 00:56:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7736821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrosLure/pseuds/FrosLure
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Day 3/7 for the Soymilk! Mikleo has always been wary of fire his entire life, and never thought it strange. At least until he learns the truth about his past.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Water is Stronger than Fire

Mikleo has always been a little antsy around fire. It wasn’t like with dogs, where he’d quickly recoil and hide behind Sorey for protection (though denying that he ever did), but instead would just stare absently at it for a moment, lost in thought, before taking a half step away in caution. Sorey never minded, it was just a part of Mikleo to him, one that he thought probably came from his water seraphic traits.

Even as children, when Sorey started to learn how to cook his own food, Mikleo had made him promise to only use the fire when he was around to put it out with his water artes. He’d make Sorey double check, then triple check, to see if the fire was set up correctly and put out completely. He’d call out to him if Sorey was getting a bit too close to the flames, tips of his hair feeling warm for minutes after.

When they left on their journey to find Alisha, that didn’t change. Mikleo continued to make sure they checked on the fire, and usually rested a little further away from it than Sorey. Then they’d wake up, put it out, and head onwards. Everything was fine.

Then they met Lailah. The fire that covered the church was suffocating, and Mikleo on his own couldn’t do much to completely wipe out the flames. Though for a brief moment, a flicker of something deeper than fear was shown on the water seraphim’s expression, hand pausing mid-arte as the fire overtook the area. Sorey didn’t have much time to contemplate it but once everything was said and done, and he had become the Shepard, it gave him much more time to think it over. 

Lailah would tease Mikleo sometimes during the first leg of their journey, because even with the aid of a fire seraph he’d still make sure that the fire was built properly and doused properly, awkwardly explaining that it was a bad habit and to not take it personally. She too let it go with little concerns.

It wasn’t until Zaveid joins that someone finally asks directly why he was so cautious around fire. The wind seraph’s logic was that, instead of fearing the flames that he could easily put out, why not worry about the earth, which was his weakness? Sorey, never having found it odd before, decided to sit back and listen to the response, which was just a shrug and “I’ve just always felt like I should double check.” That apparently wasn’t the response he was hoping for, arms crossed with a low huff. “No other reason? No stories to tell, times someone got burned in the village, fire being out of control..?” He elaborated, refusing to accept a simple answer. Mikleo just shook his head. “Its second nature, I’ve always done so since I was little. I just get a…bad feeling sometimes.”

That bad feeling came to light in the final Iris gem, his hand grasping Sorey’s so tightly he wondered if it’d be bruised afterwards, but couldn’t find it in him to care. From his short life as a human, Mikleo had only taken one thing out of it when he crossed into a seraphic being, the subconscious memory of fire, and the damage it could do. It was hard, so very hard to watch his own body, now lifeless and charred, being carried by the mother he never knew he had to Zenrus to beg for help. When his and Sorey’s purpose was brought to light, and the vision was over, it took a moment for Mikleo to compose himself, before being thrown into a battle that ultimately lead to the death of an ally.

It wasn’t for another few weeks before the true extent of his past sunk in, when he was too exhausted to even try and fight sleep, defeating a dragon pulling all of his energy out. Not that he was the only one but, for as tired as he was, Mikleo’s guard was down to face the reality of his human life.

He could almost feel the flames on his own body, knowing that this couldn’t be a memory but just a recollection of the past they were shown, his usually pale skin starting to char into an inky black. Mikleo pulled away from the flames, backing off and trying to use his artes, yet they never showed, his mana-or perhaps his ability as a seraphim, gone. The flames quivered, almost like a hellion hungry for blood, and inched closer…closer…wrapping around him and burning his skin until nothing white was left minus the fear in his eyes, screaming and thrashing and falling down tumbling onto the ground in front of the place where he knew his human life ended, head reeling with the smell of smoke and the pain of fire before a glint of silver caught his attention and a face, so similar to his own but filled with so much anger and hatred, pulled down the knife to-

That was the last of the dream that he could remember before his body jolted awake, instantly jumping out of the bed and moving outside to remove the contents of his stomach. Before he could make it outside he felt a burning sensation on his wrist, jolting at the feeling and using a quick splash arte to cool the burn before moving to go outside and hide behind the wall that covered their entrance. Being a seraph, Mikleo rarely had moments of sickness but this was by far the worst feeling, more terrifying and oppressive than the first day he walked into LadyLake with Sorey, the malevolence swirling around him like a fog. He needed some kind of water, a spring even, to calm himself down. But before he could look a hand reached out and grabbed his shoulder, causing the youngest seraphim to shout in surprise and whirl around to face the new guest.

At first he expected Lailah, who, since Sorey was still out like a light, would probably be awake and making sure the two humans in their party were alright even in their mini-comas. He didn’t expect Zaveid of all people to be there, looking at him with the most serious look hes ever seen on the wind seraph. 

“Yo.” Was all that he said, and it was almost enough to make Mikleo want to break down and cry, the horror of his nightmare sinking in as he realized he was a child sacrifice. It felt so surreal at first, he could easily push it aside to being just a dream, but the more he dwelled on the thought…the more it horrified him. Still, not one to cave in so easily the silver haired boy gave a small frown with a questioning sound of his own. 

“You kinda just leaped out of bed and ran outside. Hard to not be a little bit worried for you, y’know? You’re still young and that was a hella’va lot of malevolence in that fight, vessel or not. Wouldn’t want Sorey to wake up wondering why he was a boyfriend short but a hellion extra right?” Mikleo could tell he was being teased, and would usually resort to sputtering denials and blushing more than a teenaged girl, but today he was just so…worn out that even that seemed like too much energy, and instead he just responded with a weak smile of his own. 

“Just a bad dream. I guess that malevolence had to affect me somehow right?” the silverette responded, rubbing his eyes. Even with all the sleep he did get, Mikleo didn’t feel even slightly rested, but the thought of returning to the bed to sleep was equally as horrifying, not wanting to wake up with another nightmare. Zaveid seemed to understand, and instead pulled him over to some rocks a bit further off from the entrance, and sat both of them down. “Listen Mikky-boy, we’re gonna have a man’s talk right now alright?” If it was any other time, Mikleo would roll his eyes and quickly respond that he had no interest in what Zaveid saw what you needed to be a ‘man’. Though the elder’s serious look stilled his tongue, instead nodding numbly.

“You’re gonna hopefully be living a long time. Heck, maybe even longer than Edna, Lailah, and I. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a seraph as young as you after all. To be honest, if you were a girl and I learned about your true age, I’d feel really weird hitting on you. To seraphim you’re still really really young after all.” This time Mikleo did roll his eyes, but said nothing to let the elder continue. “Anyways, during that time you live you’re going to have hardships. You’re going to suffer, and you’re going to lose people you care about.” It was unspoken that he was talking about Sorey, but Mikleo was fully aware the dangers of being with a human when their lifespan usually capped at seventy. “I know.” Was all Mikleo could reply with, voice quiet and far away. It had been something he’s work on all his life. He was raised to be close to Sorey, that much was true, but he also made sure to raise himself to be able to handle his own problems, without anyone’s help, specifically because he knew one day Sorey would be gone forever and he’d be alone. 

“However…” he tipped the hat over his eyes for a moment, before flicking it out of the way to look at Mikleo. “…until that time comes, you gotta learn to rely on us while we’re still here. You know Lailah would scold you about how that’d bring malevolence and all. And Edna…understandably wouldn’t take it well if you popped in as a dragon one day. And I’d have to kill ya!” It was a touching conversation while it lasted, but now the older man’s hand was smacking across his back, leaving an unpleasant sting afterwards and gaining a scowl from the water searph. “So don’t let a little bad dream about fire get you down. You’re stronger than it in every way. Water will always trump fire, and that was probably the reason why you were born the way you are now.”

“Wait…how did you know my nightmare was about the…?” “When you jumped out of bed Lailah tried to reach out for you. Ya looked like a deer in headlights Mikky-boy, and practically pushed her over to get her off you. Kinda obvious that you thought you were still burning up alive so I decided to take it upon myself to give you a one on one instead!”

Oops. Mikleo had to make sure to apologize to Lailah when he got back in, guilt now pooling in his stomach for possibly hurting the gentle fire seraph. “…Sorry. For worrying you guys. I’ll be fine though. I was just…taken off guard, that’s all.” It seemed to convince the wind seraph enough, who smacked Mikleo’s shoulder again before the two headed back, Mikleo quickly giving his apologies to an understanding Lailah and deciding that he was still worn out, moving to not lay in his own bed, but in Sorey’s instead.

If when the time comes that he’ll have to face the fire alone, for now he wants to stock up on a different kind of warmth, one that covers him in a gentle hug and makes him feel at peace, rather than in terror.

**Author's Note:**

> Same thing as usual; done last minute and no revisions. I really need to do these fics ahead of time. Or at least make them shorter. BUT I HAD AN IDEA FOR THIS ONE SO YAY.


End file.
